MinaKushi: Another Love Story

Chapter Two

POV of Kushina

The blonde boy from earlier had came back. She secretly admitted, he was real looker. She could easily lose himself in his startling blue eyes. Not that she would ever admit it. As violent as she was as a child, she had turned slightly shy, especially towards those who looked as he did.

She let out a dreamy sigh, and nearly panicked when she realized he had heard her. To cover, she let out a few coughs, although they didn't sound very convincing. The man didn't seem to notice, although it very well could've been a trick.

The third finally started speaking. "Minato," he started. So that was his name. Minato. Kushina liked the sound of it. It was perfectly for him. It had the perfect balance of vowels and consonants, just as he was perfectly balanced, from what she's seen so far.

He sat down beside her, and the third continued. "This is Kushina Uzumaki," he introduced, pointing to her.

"H-hello," she said, in a soft and quiet voice.

He smiled at me. "Hi, Kushina-chan. That's a lovely name." That caused her to blush a little. She was once again surprised. Just as that time earlier when he...what did he call her...? "Sleeping Beauty," she thought.

"Thank you," she replied, her cheeks still rosy.

"So Minato," the third spoke once again. "Kushina here is from a different village. When she was twelve, she came here, and we made her the vessel for the Kyuubi." She felt her eyes start watering, and glanced at Minato. His eyes were wide in surprise. "He thinks I'm a....monster..." she thought.

"Recently, here village was...destroyed... Having the Kyuubi in her, we made plans to evacuate her." The third had asked Kushina to finish the story.

"I-I was making my way back when this masked man came from behind me and pulled my disgusting red hair. He slashed his kunai at me, whether to actually stab me or whatever, I don't know. By the end, I was scarred, bloody, and bruised. I still don't know what his priority was...but I managed to escape...."

The three sat in silence. The third eventually broke the quietness. "Minato, you have a free room in your apartment, correct?" Minato nodded, happy about where it was going. "Very well. Kushina shall stay with you until we find her a dwelling of her own. I feel you two will get along VERY well, so go now. And Miss Uzumaki, a few genin found your bags and already dropped them off at Minato's apartment. And that about settles it," he finished, clearly dismissing them.

Minato got up, and brought Kushina out of the office. "Well, I didn't get to properly introduce myself. I'm Minato Namikaze," he said, while stretching out his hand.

For the first time in a while, Kushina smiled. "Kushina. Uzumaki Kushina. And I'm sorry for all the trouble this is causing you. I hate being such a nuisan-"

"No, no!! It's nothing at all!! In fact, I'm sure it'll be fun!!"

Kushina sighed and replied," If you think living with a monster is "fun" then yeah, it will be."

"Monster, what are you talking about?!" he asked, when Kushina gestured her Kyuubi seal. "Ohh, that. Kushina, I don't care about that. That's the Kyuubi. The Kyuubi doesn't define your character. You yourself aren't the Kyuubi, simply a body confining it. The Kyuubi can only define your personality at certain times, and even then, it's not who you really are, just a temporary substitution that belongs to the real monster, the Kyuubi. In fact, you're brought out to be exceptionally brave because of it. So don't bring yourself down like that. And, um...sorry for the lecture. I do that a lot when I'm serious..."

Kushina was speechless. Nobody had ever said anything to her like that. Everybody had always made fun of her, hated her, despised her. She was, in their eyes....a monster that deserved to die.

But no, to him...she was someone of value. Nobody, besides her parents, who were also killed, had thought of her like that.

Tears were welling up in her eyes, and for the first time since she was little, she let out a tear of happiness.

Minato returned it with a warm smile. "Now c'mon, the ramen shop might close soon!!"

And both happy, they walked the rest of the way to Ichiraku's.